What the Records Show: Officer Ochoa and the City of Tool

This article is built entirely on public records obtained from the Tool Police Department, the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement, and publicly available documents. Every factual claim below is sourced from official department disciplinary records, signed by the officers who wrote them and the chief who approved them.

Officer Juan Ochoa was not contacted for this article. This was a deliberate decision. The public records speak for themselves, and I believe the facts should lead the conversation. If Officer Ochoa would like to sit down for an interview at city hall with city staff present, or over the phone, I am open to either and willing to work with his schedule. My number is public.

UPDATE (April 9, 2026, 10:16 AM): This article has been corrected. The original version reported two separate motorcycle incidents based on disciplinary records that carried two different dates. Lieutenant Jason Lee of the Tool Police Department promptly reached out to advise that a clerical error on his part resulted in inaccurate dates in the records. Both disciplinary actions arise from a single motorcycle collision on June 20, 2025. There was no second motorcycle incident. The article has been revised to reflect this correction. I appreciate the city's diligence in reaching out quickly to set the record straight.

How This Investigation Began

On April 6, 2026, a Tool resident named Leo Boyd posted in the "All About Tool Texas" Facebook group. Boyd described an encounter with a Tool Police Department officer that ended with his motorcycle being struck by a patrol vehicle. He included helmet camera footage and described a felony evading charge that was later dismissed. Boyd claimed the city's insurer paid him a settlement.

I saw the post the following day. The details were specific enough to warrant a closer look, so I shared a summary on my own page and asked the community a simple question: has anyone else had a similar experience with this officer?

The response was immediate.

The Community Response

The response was unexpectedly overwhelming. Over a dozen independent community members came forward describing their own encounters. Several reported that when they requested dash camera or body camera footage of their interactions, they were told at court that no video was available or that the officer's camera was not recording at the time.

Other patterns emerged in the public comment thread. Multiple residents described being pulled over repeatedly. One resident reported 12 stops in 18 months with four tickets, all from the same officer. A store owner described being ticketed after asking the officer to stop pulling over his customers.

I want to be clear: these are public statements made voluntarily by community members on a public social media post. I have not independently verified each account. What I can verify are the official records, and that is what this article focuses on.

The City Reached Out

On the morning of April 8, Lieutenant Jason Lee of the Tool Police Department emailed me at 8:56 AM. He mentioned awareness of my post and invited me to the police station for a meeting. The tone was constructive and direct.

I offered to come in after his lunch break so he would have time to gather information. Mercy Patterson accompanied me for the visit.

When we arrived at the station, we observed Officer Ochoa exit city hall and leave in his personal vehicle. We did not approach him. We focused on what the city wanted to discuss, and we figured that if they wanted us to speak with him, he would have been in the room.

We met with Lieutenant Lee, Chief Robert Walker, and City Secretary Kimberly. I had filed a detailed Public Information Act request at midnight the night before, listing seven categories of records related to Officer Ochoa. My original email had gone to their spam folder and was never received. Despite that, once we confirmed the request in person, the city fulfilled six of the seven items within 30 minutes.

To put that in perspective: I have active PIA requests with other cities that have gone unanswered for over a month. I have received cost estimates of $50 to $60 for documents that could be photocopied in seconds. I once waited 10 business days for a two-sentence resignation letter that had to be reviewed by a city attorney before release. Tool handed me a stack of disciplinary records in the time it takes to eat lunch.

The one outstanding item involved a payment from the city's insurer to Leo Boyd. The city was not aware of this payment until I brought it up during the meeting. The city made calls and confirmed that the Texas Municipal League did pay Boyd something. The city has assured me they will continue to work with me to confirm that information. I do not fault them for the delay. They learned about the TML payment from me, and they are following up.

The Officer's Background

A review of Officer Juan Ochoa's licensing record through the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement reveals a pattern of short tenures across multiple agencies:

Agency	Dates	Duration
Kemp PD (1st and 2nd appointments)	April 2016 to August 2017	~16 months
Seven Points PD	August 2018 to February 2020	~18 months
Kemp PD (3rd appointment, overlapping with Seven Points)	January 2019 to February 2020	~13 months
Trinity Valley College PD	March 2020 to September 2020	~7 months
Malakoff PD	October 2020 to March 2021	6 months
Kemp PD (4th appointment)	April 2021 to February 2022	~10 months
Trinity Valley College PD (2nd appointment)	October 2022 to August 2023	~10 months
Tool PD	August 2023 to present	~2.5 years

Eight appointments at five agencies in ten years, according to TCOLE records. His current position at Tool PD is the longest tenure of his career.

During the interview, Chief Walker stated that when Ochoa was hired, the department conducted a background check through SecureShare. "Whatever was sent in the personnel file was what I reviewed, and there was no red flags there," Walker said. The department did not independently contact Ochoa's prior agencies.

I have filed PIA requests with Ochoa's prior agencies for his personnel records.

The Body Camera Directive

On September 18, 2024, Lieutenant Jason Lee sent a department-wide email directive to all patrol personnel, including Officer Ochoa, establishing mandatory body camera guidelines. The directive is clear:

Officers are required to activate their body worn cameras during all official law enforcement encounters, including traffic stops, arrests, use of force incidents, and "any other situation where a reasonable expectation of recording exists." Officers shall not deactivate the camera until the encounter has concluded. Any deactivation must be documented in a written report with a reason.

The directive warns: "Failure to comply with this directive may result in disciplinary action, up to and including termination."

Ochoa was also formally trained on body-worn cameras in September 2018 through the Kaufman County Sheriff's Office.

June 20, 2025: The Motorcycle Strike

On June 20, 2025, at approximately 5:45 PM, Officer Ochoa observed a motorcycle in the 700 block of North Tool Drive allegedly traveling at a high rate of speed. He activated his emergency lights and initiated a pursuit.

What happened next is documented in the department's own disciplinary write-up, prepared by Patrol Sergeant Jesus Mendoza on June 21, 2025. According to Mendoza's investigation, which included a review of in-car camera footage, departmental video systems, and Henderson County dispatch logs:

The motorcycle was not committing a felony at the time of the stop. There was no indication of a crime in progress that would justify an emergency response under department policy. Ochoa's use of emergency lights and initiation of a pursuit were not in accordance with departmental policy regarding emergency responses.

The pursuit extended to the 1400 block of South Tool Drive. Ochoa drove into oncoming traffic and positioned his patrol vehicle between civilian traffic and the motorcycle. The motorcyclist attempted to turn into a driveway. Ochoa followed and struck the motorcycle with the right front end of his patrol unit, resulting in a fleet vehicle accident. He then detained the rider and called for EMS.

Ochoa was not wearing his body-worn camera.

Mendoza characterized Ochoa's actions as demonstrating "a clear disregard for the safety of the public, improper use of emergency lights, and reckless pursuit conduct in a situation not warranting such a response." He cited Texas Transportation Code Section 546.005, which defines reckless disregard.

The crash was investigated by the Texas Department of Public Safety, not Tool PD, because a fleet vehicle was involved. This is standard practice to avoid self-investigation.

The rider, Leo Boyd, was arrested and charged with felony evading.

The June Discipline

On June 25, 2025, Chief Robert Walker issued a formal Letter of Reprimand to Officer Ochoa. The discipline included:

• A one-week suspension without pay
• A six-month disciplinary probation period, during which Ochoa would not be eligible for overtime, special assignments, or off-duty work

The letter includes a direct warning: "Any further violations of department policy will result in escalated disciplinary action, up to and including termination."

Ochoa signed the letter on June 25, acknowledging receipt. Chief Walker signed it the same day. A witness also signed.

Thirteen days later, on July 3, 2025, Ochoa completed a de-escalation training course.

The Body Camera Discipline

A separate disciplinary action was issued for Officer Ochoa's failure to wear his body-worn camera during the June 20 incident. Sergeant Mendoza's memorandum identifies the violation as insubordination and failure to follow a direct order, noting that Ochoa violated directives from three levels of command: Sergeant Mendoza, Chief Walker, and Lieutenant Lee.

The discipline for the body camera violation was a written reprimand. The pursuit and strike received the more severe penalty: a one-week suspension and six-month probation. Both actions stem from the same incident.

During our April 8 meeting, Chief Walker acknowledged the complexity of officer discipline. "I'm not going to terminate an officer for the first time incident, second time," he said. "Depending on what it is." He referenced the legal risk of wrongful termination lawsuits.

The Felony Charge and the Insurance Payout

Leo Boyd was charged with felony evading arrest after the June 20 incident.

During our April 8 meeting, Lieutenant Lee confirmed that the felony charge was dismissed at the department's request. "There was a letter sent over to the DA's office requesting the case not be pursued," Lee said.

The department asked the district attorney to drop the felony charge against the person their officer struck with a patrol vehicle during a pursuit that their own investigation found violated department policy.

Boyd's helmet camera was recording during the encounter. In a public post on April 6, he stated that his footage captured a beer visible in the back of Ochoa's patrol vehicle. Boyd also stated that he has Ochoa on camera "both saying it was on purpose and on accident" regarding the decision to strike the motorcycle. Two separate speeding tickets Ochoa had previously written Boyd were also dismissed. Boyd described the cited speed of 55 in a 50 zone as "a lie" and noted that Ochoa did not show up to court for the first one.

Separately, the city's insurer, the Texas Municipal League, confirmed that a payment was made to Boyd. Leo Boyd has publicly stated the amount was $5,000. The city is still working to verify the details, as they were not aware of the TML payment until our meeting. The payment appears to have been handled as an administrative insurance claim. No civil lawsuit has been identified in connection with this incident.

What Comes Next

I have filed Public Information Act requests with Officer Ochoa's prior agencies for his personnel records. Those requests are pending. If the records reveal documented conduct issues at prior agencies, the next question will be whether those issues were shared with Tool PD through the SecureShare system when Ochoa was hired.

I will continue to review records as they become available and will report on what they show.

A Note on the City of Tool

I want to close with something that does not often make it into investigative reporting: credit where it is earned.

The City of Tool invited me into their police station. They sat down with me face to face. They handed me a stack of disciplinary records within 30 minutes of confirming my request. They did not hide behind a city attorney. They did not send me a cost estimate. They did not tell me to wait 10 business days. Lieutenant Lee reached out to me before I reached out to him.

That is not normal. In my experience covering small-town governance in Texas, that level of transparency is exceptional. I have been removed from council meetings, arrested on a warrant three weeks after attempting to interview a councilmember following a meeting, and stonewalled on two-sentence resignation letters. Tool opened the door.

I also want to thank Councilmember Tommy Salvato for reaching out and establishing a direct line of communication. Having reviewed recent Tool council meetings, I am encouraged by what I see. The council appears to be thinking about governance at a level that is uncommon for cities this size. They seem capable of coordinating with each other and with city staff in a way that suggests real institutional maturity.

The records I obtained raise real questions about accountability within the police department. The pursuit that violated department policy is documented. The body camera compliance failure is documented. The community's response speaks for itself. These are serious matters.

I am hopeful that the City of Tool will work through this in a positive, transparent, and efficient manner. The leadership I met today gave me reason to believe they will. I look forward to continuing the conversation.

To Officer Ochoa: our past does not define us. What we do moving forward is what defines us. Everyone makes mistakes. We are all human. How we react to our mistakes is what defines us.